Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Blog Tips

I've been meaning to finish the post since last year. I started blogging last year, and I've picked up a few things. Mostly, it's style and formatting tips. It's been trial and error, but I've got a few tips I'd like to share that I hope you'll find useful.

Tags:

Ever wonder how in some comments, there are words that areitalicized, or bold, or even linked (without the long URL address)?

Well, they use tags! Tags are the things that affect how words are displayed in the comment (or post). Now, if you have a blog, you pretty much know those easy icons on the Create Post menu bar that helps you create styles and format your posts.

Now, you realize that sometimes, when you copy and paste inside a comment box, the effects don't show up at all!

So, there's a reason why. Blogger seems to allow only a few types of tags to be used in the comment section. But that's okay. I've found three that have been very useful.

How to italicize words in comments and posts:

Say you want to create an italicized word or phrase in your post. I'll give you some step by step instructions, and leave the tags you need in red.

1. First, type < then the small case ithen followed by > This is your start tag.

2. Type in the word/s you want to italicize.

3. Then type < then / then a small case i then followed by > This is your closing tag.

Remember, it should look like LESS THAN and GREATER THAN surround small case letter I. Then the WORDS to be italicized; finally the LESS THAN followed by a BACKSLASH then the small case I followed by a GREATER THAN.

Use the PREVIEW button on the comments section to see if it has the italicized effect. In fact, go ahead and practice on the comment section of this post. See if it works! You don't have to PUBLISH your comment if you don't want to; I just want to make sure you can see if it works. The PREVIEW button does a good job of showing you if you did it right.

How to make words bold in comments and posts:

The same rules apply to making a bold comment. The tags you need are

1. First, use the < followed by a small case b then followed by > This is your start tag.

2. Type in the word/s you want to be in bold followed by

3. Type in < followed by / then small case b followed by > This is your close tag

Remember, it's LESS THAN and GREATER THAN surround the small case B. Followed by the WORDS to be put in bold. Then LESS THAN followed by BACKSLASH then small case B followed by GREATER THAN.

Go on and practice in the comments section; remember to use the preview button on the comments section to see if the effects work.

How to make links in comments and posts:

The last tip I want to talk about are the links in the comments! Ever notice how some people's comments are blue and lead to a link? Those hyperlinked texts are easy and you don't have to worry about the long URL getting cut off when you're trying to share it in the comments.

Here are the tags you need.

1. First, type <

2. Then type a href=

3. Then type quotation marks "" followed by > This is your start tag

4. Then type the word/s for you want hyperlinked

5. Then type < followed by / then small case letter a

6. Then type > This is your ending tag.

7. Finally, copy the URL you want to link to and insert/paste it between the quotation marks "COPY AND PASTE URL HERE"

Remember, it should look like LESS THAN then the small case letters A HREF and EQUAL SIGN. Then QUOTATION MARKS with link URL in between the quotation marks. Next is the GREATER THAN sign. Then the WORDS that need to be hyperlinked. Followed by LESS THAN then BACKSLASH then small case letter A followed by GREATER THAN.

Go ahead and try it out in the comment section, and use the preview button to see if you got it right.

*Edited 11:45 am to add: When you see your blue link in the preview section, right click on it and open in new tab to check to see if it's the right link.

Now, comes the best part! You can actually use all three tags with each other! Say you want something bold and italicized, then use the tags.

1. Type the start bold tag, then italicized start tag.

2. Then type the words you want formatted;

3. Then type the closed italicized tag, followed by the closed bold tag.

Remember, your first tag should be the same as your last tag; in other words, if you start with a bold tag, then end with a bold tag.

You can even combine all three! Just remember, the order of your tags. What ever tag was first is going to be last. If you start with a bold, italicized, and linked tags, then close with a linked, italicized, and bold tags. Go ahead and experiment in the comment section and use the PREVIEW button to see if it works.

Feel free to share any tips you may have; your feedback is also important to see if the instructions are easy enough to follow, or if I can improve them in some way.

CP, thanks for the link! The pic is fantastic. I've edited the post per your feedback to include checking to make sure you're link works. Just use the preview button, then right click on the blue link, then open in new tab to see if it's right!

I always get confused making links so this is very useful. However, since you seem to have mastered the techniques, I think I'll just send you my comments with directions on how to format them and whose blog to post them on.

I can remember the basics, like how to bold, italicize and underline. It helps at work too, when I'm sending some "You'd better read this or else!" post for a student. Bold is very assertive, not as aggressive as all CAPS, but hopefully they know you're serious being bold.

Beast, if you're using blogger and have all ready signed in, look at the right upper corner of the blogger menu.

1. Find the word Customize and click on it. Or, if you're on the "Dashboard" part of blogger, then click on "Layout"

2. It should take you to the page that says "Blogger: Edit Layout" on the very top of your browser.

3. The page should show "Page Elements". And on that, you'll see a blank layout.

4. On the side of "Blog Post", you should see a blue option that says "Add a Gadget". Click on Add a Gadget.

5. A screen should pop up that says, "Add a Gadget". And you're in luck! They've updated and added a lot of new stuff that makes it easier to add to your blog. In fact, "Blog List" should be first on the list. Now this new feature lets you add blogs and shows when they are updated. It's a very new addition. I haven't used this one.

I used the old "List" option. Click on it and a new pop up will show. It lets you fill in the "Title" of what your List is going to be. You can type Blogroll or whatever you want. Then skip down to URL.

6. I go to the other blogs and one by one, I copy and paste their URL into that "New Site URL", then fill in "New Site Name" with that blog name (or a fun name) :)

9. Once the pop up window goes away, you should be back at the Page Elements. Click on the blue "Preview" button to see if the links appeared! A new pop up will show the changes you've made.

10. If you don't like 'em, then click "Clear Edits". You can start over if you want. But if you do like 'em, then go on and click "Save". And you're done!

Or you can always make another list, or try some other gadgets. It's okay to experiment, just remember to PREVIEW first before saving any changes. That way, you can decide what works for you and what doesn't.

Keep this comment window open so you can have this as a guide while you work on your blog roll. Let me know if this helps or not. I'll see if I can clean this up better.

Kapi, Ha! Ha! Ha! :) I'm fairly new to blogging, and I was curious as to how certain comments looked all fancy and exciting. I had some difficulty figuring them out. So, once I figured out how to do them, I decided to share that knowledge so it can help someone else.

When it comes to formatting a post, I stick to the easy buttons in the Create a Post menu :) It's a whole lot easier than changing the html code!

Scarlet blue gave me the heads up about you so thank you so much for your helpful advice. I have typed it out and look forward to trying it.After three years I had just about learned how to link but had no idea how to do it in a comment box. Here's hoping;)

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